Summer of Protocols

I have a theory why zoom is more draining than either in-person or audio only. Audio demands less social energy and delivers less social energy in return. In-person takes more social energy, but delivers more social energy, not counting travel. Both equations are balanced. Zoom requires more social energy, but doesn’t deliver more social energy.

Let us delve further. Performing for a camera requires putting your whole 3d body in performance mode, same as being physically present with another person. But a person viewed through a small 2d window only delivers a fraction of the social energy they are generating. You’d need a social energy Dyson sphere to capture and remote-transmit at equation-balancing levels. 

This suggests VR with some sort of synthetic performance might be interesting. Not crude low-poly mannequins or high-energy mocap, but posture synthesized from voice alone. So I can voice-act my avatar to be actively present while I’m stretched on couch. The way I take most audio calls.

Delver at contraptions.venkateshrao.com, running summerofprotocols.com, host of /gloom ☀️

Also the fact that interruptions don’t work on video call